20 December 2001 Media Statement
The passing of Bishop Manuhuia Bennett mourned

Aue kua hinga he totara nui! E te matua, moe mai. Mai mai I roto I te aroha o te Atua. Mana hei tiaki, mana ano hei manaaki.

Maoridom has lost a taonga today, a rangatira who has served his people with dignity. With the passing of Bishop Manuhuia Bennett, we are reminded as a people that our destiny is intertwined with the history of those that have gone before us. It therefore behooves those of us who purport to follow in the footsteps of our kuia and kaumatua to ever carry forward their name and their work with honour.

Bishop Bennett’s life and achievements can not be simply captured in a statement. They will be captured in the lives of those he has touched, in the hopes and aspirations he sought to inspire in others, and in the legacy he has left to all of us, nga morehu e tangi ana.

I would like to offer my sincere condolences to his dear wife Kaa who has supported him tirelessly and unselfishly through the years he served as a Man of the Cloth, and later during his time on the Waitangi Tribunal. Kia kaha e kui.

Finally, to the people of Te Arawa whanui tonu I express my deepest sympathies, but know that the achievements of the man have been manifested in the hearts of those who continue to take up the torch, the same torch he received from those that went before him.

Ma te aroha o te Atua hei tiaki.

Hon Sandra Rose Te Hakamatua Lee

ENDS

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